No.38 Fun Ninth Symphony Choir

(Inagi Newsletter December 15, 2014 issue)

On October 17, 2014, as part of the Inagi City Citizen Cultural Festival and Inagi City Arts Festival at the I Town Inagi Citizen Festival, a concert by the citizen choir was held at the i Plaza Hall. The piece performed was the 4th movement of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, and I participated in the bass part.
Looking back, last year marked the 40th anniversary of the Inagi City Arts and Culture Association, and the president suggested that we perform the Ninth Symphony as a celebration, to which I was invited.
A choir? I was momentarily puzzled, but upon reflection, I realized I hadn't sung since middle school. Recently, aside from karaoke, I haven't had the opportunity to sing in front of others, but I thought, why not give it a try after several decades? I casually agreed.
This year, on April 24, we held the inaugural meeting, and everyone gathered at the venue seemed to be experienced members of the chorus. Feeling a bit intimidated, I introduced myself, and everyone was surprised, saying, "What! The Mayor is going to sing?" Right after the inaugural meeting, we had our first practice, and I regretted it a bit when I was handed the sheet music. I struggled to keep up with the notes and had a hard time with the German since graduating from university. However, since it is a choir, I resolved to attend practice as much as possible so as not to hold everyone back.

This practice session lasted for about six months from April 2014, consisting of a total of 25 sessions, and we received guidance from Mr. Morino, a lecturer at Senzoku Gakuen College of Music and a member of the Nikikai, who resides in Inagi City. Additionally, from the middle of the sessions, we also received guidance from Ms. Shimizu, a vocalist. Ms. Shimizu is not only the soloist who performed on the day of the event but was also previously a resident of Inagi City. Furthermore, in the latter half, we received guidance from Mr. Goto, a violist from the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, who conducted the performance. Mr. Goto recently moved to Inagi City, which is why he agreed to conduct this time.
On the day of the event, we enjoyed an opera performed by the soloist in the first part, and welcomed the performance of the fourth movement in the second part, achieving results that exceeded our rehearsals. We received many voices of "joy" from the attendees.
Starting as a gathered group, we have grown over six months to develop a sense of unity as a citizens' choir, which has deeply moved all the members, and I believe we were able to share the time and emotions in the hall with the citizens who attended.
Through this experience, we recognized that the development of artistic and cultural activities is an important element for Inagi to continue to thrive and for more citizens to recognize it as their hometown.
It is truly gratifying to hear opinions that we should continue this in the future, and as a participating member, I am very pleased. I hope to support and sponsor concerts by citizens for citizens, so that they can continue for a long time.